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Saturday 20 October 2012

Writing Fiction - Work In Progress

Today's blog is a bit of a departure from the norm. It's the opening of my current WIP, which is a full-length, contemporary novel.  Spirit is based around the idea that personal disaster brings out the best in people. My heroine, Ruth, loses everything she values. She only achieves her happy-ever-after when, like hero Mitch, she realises she was looking for it in the wrong place...

By kazuh
One minute Ruth Parrish had it all - complete with a thumping headache, a fresh set of scratches on the SUV and credit cards maxed out on new school uniform. Then her world evaporated in a whiff of Hugo Boss.  She was left with no future, two children to support, and a cake.
  Ruth’s disaster struck in the middle of a clear blue day. She and the children tumbled back into the house, hot and bothered after the trials of shopping and a grisly visit to grandma.  Gasping for tea and painkillers, she stopped the children bickering by sending Grace upstairs with the new laundry marker. Grace was old enough to mark her own school kit, although Ruth knew it would be faster and less stressful to do it herself, once the children had gone to bed. 
Jack was younger, but he could always be bribed with a comic to give Ruth a few minutes’ peace.  She ferreted his latest one out from the tide of carrier bags lapping around her feet and pushed him through the open living-room door. Then she dragged the shopping into the kitchen. It was always her sanctuary, but today it was chaos. Her partner Alan must have been up to something. He created havoc wherever he went, and could turn his back on disaster without a thought for her, or anybody else. 
Trying to ignore the mess, she shoved aside enough of it to make room for today’s star prize. One of her carrier bags contained a cake box, encrusted with gold decoupage and pink ribbons.  She put it down on the table like a holy relic, and smiled for the first time that day. The box cradled a gateau au chocolat. It was supposed to be for tea - a trophy to mark the end of the summer holidays.
Although surely it couldn’t hurt just to look at it... 
Ruth resisted temptation long enough to go and switch on the kettle. Then she went back to ease open the carnation-coloured lid of the cake box. Inside was a triumph of the patissier’s art. Glossy ganache had been set with tiny macaroons and curls of chocolate, then sprinkled with gold dust. She inspected the cake long and hard from every angle. It was decorated with so many little extras, nobody would miss one or two. 
Licking the tip of her finger, she reached out to the gateau with the stealth of a bomb disposal expert.
‘Mum, I want Monsters from Mars!’  Jack’s voice rang through from the other room. 
Caught in the act, Ruth jumped like a frog. 
‘Have it! Your Dad’s sure to have left the television on standby.’ 
She went back to gazing at the gateau.  Mentally dividing the cake into slices, she sighed.  The portions looked so meagre. She wished she still made her own cakes, but if there was one thing worse than Alan’s complaints it was seeing him moan with his mouth full. He blamed Ruth’s cooking for the fact his new clothes were a size larger each time she went shopping for him. That never stopped him eating everything she put in front of him, then looking round for more. Telling him that, and adding that his age might have something to do with his weight gain, only made things worse. 
Grace materialised at her elbow.
‘I thought you were sorting out your school stuff ready for next week, love?’
‘I’ve done it. Now I want to go on the computer.’  
Plump, pale Grace stared into the heart-stopping cake box. ‘Where is the computer, Mum?’ she murmured, distracted by their calorie-packed coming attraction.
‘What do you mean?’  As Ruth looked up from the gateau, Jack stamped in from the living room.
  ‘Where’s the telly?  I want Monsters from Mars!’  
A cranky eleven-year-old was the last thing Ruth needed.  ‘Your dad must have been moving stuff around while he tried to find the best position for his damned plasma screen.’ Sighing, she abandoned the cake like a lover.
 They had left Alan “working from home” that morning. His latest toy had still been in its box then, filling the lounge. Ruth could guess what happened next. Alan would have carried on checking e-mails until he was sure she and the children were well on their way. Then he would have abandoned his work computer for the new TV. Setting it up would have sent him back to bed exhausted. She called upstairs to him on her way through to the lounge.
‘Alan?  What have you been up to?’ She laughed - but not for long.

I'd love to know what you think of it: there's a signed book from my backlist for a comment picked at random.

19 comments:

  1. Oh dear. I can imagine what happens next. Something similar happened to a friend of mine not too long ago.

    Still ... it's a basis for change. We all have changes in our lives (whether we want them or not), so you've piqued my interest to want to know how Ruth handles them all - and how Mitch fits into the picture. Methinks Mitch is going to be a hero to remember....

    Thanks for sharing your WIP.

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  2. Thanks for commenting, Laney. The awful fact is that something similar has happened to several friends of mine. A woman in the next village had an even worse disaster: while she was in hospital, her husband invited his girlfriend to stay. That particular cuckoo in the nest was only discovered when his mother-in-law dropped in to do some housework...

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    1. OMG. I'd hate to be in any of those positions (so to speak): the MIL, the wife, the husband, or even the GF!

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    2. Doesn't bear thinking about, does it?

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  3. Oh, no! He moved out? Just like that? And taking all the stuff too?

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  4. Yes, that's the bad news, Nas. The good news is that Ruth finds hidden depths in order to help her children, and get through the trauma. Unfortunately, though, things get a lot worse before they get better!

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    1. Which probably means there will be lot of angst and tension, conflict- external and internal. And you'll take Ruth right down in the dumps and then make her rise through it all again. She would find reserves of strength inside her and be a strong heroine. Her character arc would be awesome and I'm thinking good emotional reading in store for readers?

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    2. That's what I'm aiming for, Nas - I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love a long emotional read myself, with plenty of ups and down, and the length of "Spirit" lets me fully explore Ruth's character and development.

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  5. Oh wow Christina ...you have certainly grabbed my attention I am all in a flutter to know what happens next ~~~~nicely done !

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  6. Thanks for commenting, Desere. I'm glad you enjoyed the extract. I hope you'll keep an eye out for more extracts over the next few weeks!

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  7. It happened to me, I went to pick up my youngest from daycare and return dvds, got home and the other half had moved himself and his stuff to the south island... wasnt funny at the time but later on me and his sisterinlaw had a good laugh... thinking about how he knew he only had an hour at the most to pack and run... he would have been sprinting around the house throwing everything in his ute... later (again when we were trying to have a laugh thru the tears) we wanted to ring him up and ask him where dinner was? He'd promised he'd cook dinner!

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    1. Congratulations, Tash - you won the draw prize! Please mail me with your address so I can send off your prize!

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  8. Tash, thanks for sharing. It's so brave of you to be able to look back and laugh. I'd be absolutely devastated if that happened to me. Some of the best writing advice is "write about things you know" so I've developed Ruth's predicament from the experiences of friends, but unfortunately I've got tons of experience of all the other disasters in "Spirit" that are yet to come O_O

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  9. cant wait to know what happens next :)

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  10. Hi Eli - thanks for commenting. I'll be putting up more clips as "Spirit" progresses, and my occasional newsletter will keep you up-to-date with progress (anyone else who would like to sign up can do so on my website at http://www.christinahollis.com).

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  11. I once read somewhere that you can go through a separation or you can grow through a separation. The end of a mediocre relationship can actually be good news for someone if they have the strength to learn from it and become the person they were supposed to be if they hadn't lost it by getting into a relationship that didn't work as it should have.

    If the MC can find her true self, that's a really happy ending.

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  12. Hi Maria - thanks for commenting. That's a good quote about separation. It's almost like a bereavement with shock, disbelief, grief, anger and guilt all mixed up together. A crucible of change, if ever there was one.

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  13. I think, What will happen it must be more chaos,
    Oucch...... Seems like Ruth not gonna like it:)

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  14. HI Nana - thanks for commenting. You're right, although facing new challenges is going to show Ruth a different side of herself.

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